


Ice Chips

by peachgalaxy



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers, Thor (Movies)
Genre: Emotions, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Idiots in Love, Nightmares, ShieldShock - Freeform, also a lot of snark, but keeping things bottled up is UNHEALTHY, full on snark fest, mentions of peggy carter - Freeform, they really don't want to worry each other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-15
Updated: 2019-01-15
Packaged: 2019-10-10 10:31:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,219
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17424206
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/peachgalaxy/pseuds/peachgalaxy
Summary: Darcy wakes Steve up from a nightmare of going into the ice.





	Ice Chips

**Author's Note:**

> Apparently, keeping in your emotions and telling half-truths is how Steve and Darcy try to live. Someone tell these absolute UNITS that isn't healthy.

Darcy is the one who usually has the nightmares. If it isn’t about dark elves from that time in London, it’s watching the Avengers get picked off one by one while she is left behind to watch the carnage on a small tv screen. She can barely sleep most nights without experiencing the nightmares. She should  _ really  _ see a therapist. 

Provided she works up the courage to contact one. 

So when, one night while she and her super-powered boyfriend ( _ Captain America himself!!)  _ are in bed, Darcy is already awake, cuddled up to his side and counting sheep to distract her tired mind. It hadn’t been the dark elves this time. She’d been floating in space with no hope of salvation and days away from losing her oxygen supply. That was a new one. The thought causes her to shiver again before noticing something is off when Steve’s fingers begin to flex and then grip her sleep shirt. He’s not making any noise and Darcy can’t see his expression, but his breath sounds awfully stilted. His hand keeps up the same pattern, coupled with his breathing getting ever deeper and more panicked. 

Okay,  _ something _ is really wrong. 

She knew Steve had seen a lot, being an Avenger, but this was something else. 

He’s breathing like his next breath will surely be his last. 

She’s never heard him sound like this before. 

Chill bumps are sprouting on his arms and Darcy makes a split second decision, reaching over to turn the bedside lamp on. It causes Steve to jerk from sleep, pushing her off with a lot of force as he starts gasping for air. Darcy, luckily, didn’t fly that far, though she was gonna feel the effects of cracking her head on the wood floor of their bedroom in the morning. 

“I gotta put her in the water”, Steve shouts, blinking rapidly, eyes unfocused. 

A chill settles in Darcy’s bones. Steve is remembering putting the Valkyrie in the ice. 

“Hey, FRIDAY, lights on”, she says lowly as she crawls back onto the bed, going slow so she doesn’t surprise Steve. He’s awake but he obviously isn’t in 2019. 

The lights in the room come up, the AI doing so without speaking in her tinny, mechanical voice. 

Darcy approaches Steve like he’s a frightened animal caught in a trap. Her boyfriend’s hands are shaking uncontrollably, still clenching and unclenching in a rhythmic pattern. 

“Steve, come back to me, alright? It’s me, Darcy. You aren’t in that plane anymore…” 

Darcy speaks gently, sliding her smaller hands over his. Steve’s eyes squeeze shut, a ragged breath escaping his nose. 

“I-I...I’m sorry….” 

It breaks Darcy’s heart. 

“Don’t apologize, Steve”, she says firmly, gripping his hands as tight as she can. 

“It felt so real, is all….” 

“What did?” 

She may ask, but she already knows. 

“The cold air, the fast-approaching glacier...The impact”, he grinds out, eyes slowly opening. 

His breathing is evening out and he looks like he wants to say something else but can’t get the words out. 

“Peggy’s voice”, she supplies. 

His eyes harden and he grips her hands the slightest bit. Darcy probably shouldn’t have brought it up but she would be a fool to think the woman wasn’t in the dream.

“That’s the thing, Darce, it wasn’t her voice coming through the speaker this time. It was  _ yours _ .” 

A lump forms in Darcy’s throat. Blinking back tears, she scoots forward more, resting her forehead against Steve’s. 

“Have you had this nightmare for a while? About the ice?”

Darcy doesn’t want to acknowledge she’s taken the place of Peggy in Steve’s nightmares. She  _ can’t _ . 

“Yeah....”, he confirms, taking the leap and wrapping Darcy into one of his bear hugs, her arms immediately going around his neck, hiding her face in his shoulder. Only then do a few tears fall. 

“I suppose you never would have told me if I didn’t witness it”, she grumbles wetly, tugging at strands of his hair lightly. 

“I would have. Eventually”, he replies shakily, sounding the slightest bit put out, tugging her hair in retaliation. 

“That’s a lie if I ever heard one”, Darcy snarks thickly, thankful no tears fall after the first wave. 

“I hate worrying you, Darce, you know that.” 

Steve is already beginning to sound like his normal, sarcastic self and it has the lump in Darcy’s throat loosening. It also annoys her to no end. She pulls back, raising her eyebrow at him, ignoring the tear tracks on her cheeks. 

“So, this is the game you want to play, is it? I didn’t want to worry  _ you _ , you jerk! My nightmares are so tame compared to remembering sacrificing myself because some Nazi fucks were going to destroy the world.” 

Steve purses his lips in true disapproving grandpa fashion. 

“Having a pissing contest over who has worse nightmares gets us nowhere.” 

Darcy rolls her eyes, blowing a raspberry at her boyfriend’s words. They’ve had disagreements over dangerous situations they’ve been in before. Steve has always had a terrible time and Darcy isn’t going to let him forget it. Steve rolls his eyes, too, looking too much like her mirror image at that moment. Darcy angrily wipes away the wetness on her face, the last of her tears drying up quickly before crossing her arms, ready to protest what Steve says next. 

“Okay, I yield. We’ve been in dangerous situations because of who employs us, alright. Nightmares just come with the territory.” 

“Well, if you would let me face a hostile head on, maybe..”

Steve cuts her off with a  glare. Darcy deflates, giving him a flick on the forehead. He snorts and pokes her side, making her jump. 

“Damn it, Steve! Facing your fears reduces nightmares, I swear!” 

He hugs her closer to his chest and Darcy relaxes further despite her annoyance with super soldiers who have savior complexes. At least his nightmare seems forgotten. She was already forgetting the details of one that had woken her up hours before.  

“You sound like an angry cat when you talk like this”, he teases, kissing her forehead. 

Darcy tries not to let the sweet gesture weaken her resolve to be put out with him.

“Well, since you want to treat me like a princess in need of saving, I might as well milk it for all it’s worth. Bring me hot chocolate in bed”, Darcy orders primly, pushing away from him before rolling off to her side of the bed. Steve snorts, staring down at her, looking very unimpressed with her antics. 

“The last thing I see you as is a princess in need of saving. You know it’s because Thor will have my head if he sees you in the field and finds out  _ I  _ let you help us.” 

Darcy mutters about  _ stupid gods and overprotective boyfriends and Steve trying to take the weight of the world’s safety on his shoulders AGAIN _ . 

“You know I could do it. I’ve got a mean right hook.” 

“I know you do, the hostiles wouldn’t stand a chance against those jabs.”

“Damn right they wouldn’t.” 

Nightmares finally pushed far to the back of their minds, they exchange a soft kiss before Darcy waves Steve away so he can acquire her hot chocolate. 

Afterward, they both have the best night’s sleep they’ve had in a while.

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading my first ShieldShock fic! Hope there are more to come!


End file.
